Everton star Cahill in great shape after free summer

The Australian midfielder has rarely enjoyed a proper summer break in recent years but was afforded that luxury this time around.

He told evertontv: "It had been a while since I had played so regardless of whether I had the ball or not I was just running about making sure I got my fitness.

"I feel like that is the most important thing for me, to put as much as I can out on the football pitch in pre-season and get ready for the big start of the season."

The much-used pre-season line is that the matches are about fitness and nothing else but Cahill believes his teammates will want to round-off their USA stay with victory over DC United on Saturday evening.

He continued: "We would love to finish with a win but like the gaffer said, it is about fitness.

"We always love to win and there will be a good turnout of fans, it's a nice area, a nice stadium and a good team we are playing against. It's always good to win.

"The lads are looking sharp and it's going to be a good test tomorrow night."